Why do they call it that? Tampa and Courtney Campbell Causeway

Each Wednesday on The Morning Show, we'll answer the question: "Why do they call it that?" This week, it's the story of the likely misspelling that gave an entire city its identity, plus the family that lived above the highway.

Why do they call it Tampa?

"There's actually a sculpture at the campus of the University of Tampa called 'Sticks of Fire', which supposedly is what Tampa means," explained Rodney Kite-Powell, the curator of history at the new Tampa Bay History Center in Channelside.

"But, unfortunately for those who built the sculpture, it doesn't mean that," Kite-Powell said.

He believes another story, that the name came from an indian village near present-day Philippe Park in Safety Harbor.

"Most likely, it was pronounced by the native people 'Tanpa' -- with an 'n' -- 'T-a-n-p-a'," Kite-Powell said. "But the European languages had a hard time with the 'n' and so the pronunciation was changed to 'Tampa'."

The name stuck, and Europeans used it when they founded a new town at the mouth of the Hillsborough River. They called the town the Village of Tampa Bay. "Our first post office was 'Tampa Bay'," Kite-Powell said.

Eventually, "Bay" was dropped from the town's name, and it was shortened to the "Tampa" we know today.

Why do they call it the Courtney Campbell Causeway?

"That's not even the original name for the bridge. Originally, it was called the... 'Davis Causeway'," Kite-Powell said.

Around here in the 1930's, toll bridges were built and run by individual people or companies, not the government. So Ben T. Davis used equipment from his dredging company to construct the corridor of man-made islands and bridges that linked Clearwater and Tampa.

And, since he built and operated the causeway, Davis and his family lived in a house above the toll booth. "That way, they could collect tolls day and night," Kite-Powell said.

(Click here to see a picture of the bizarre half-toll both, half-house hybrid.)

In the 1940's, a member of the state road board named Courtney Campbell directed money here to renovate the causeway. The side roads and recreation areas that parallel much of the highway were added, as were native plants. The road was renamed in Campbell's honor.

"There's still a beach called the Ben T. Davis Beach, but the Davis family still -- to this day -- would like the bridge name returned back to its historic name of Davis Causeway," Kite-Powell said.

Why do they call it that? Now you know.

There are a lot more places out there with names that could use explaining. If you want to ask "Why do they call it that?", send an e-mail with a name that has you curious -- to Grayson Kamm using this link.

We'll be featuring new places and stories each Wednesday here on The Morning Show from 5-7 a.m. on 10 Connects.

Connect with 10 Connects multi-media journalist Grayson Kamm on Twitter as @graysonkamm, on his Facebook page, by e-mail at this link, or on AOL Instant Messenger as screen name GraysonConnects.